UIQ Technology AB was a Swedish company that developed and licensed the UIQ software based on Symbian OS which was used in smartphone offerings from Sony Ericsson, Motorola, BenQ and Arima. They were based in the Soft Center Science & Research Park in Ronneby, Sweden, and at the time of its closure in 2009 was jointly owned by Motorola and Sony Ericsson.

History

UIQ Technology was established in April 1999 as Symbian AB, a wholly owned subsidiary of Symbian Ltd., following their acquisition of Ericsson Mobile Applications Lab from Ericsson Mobile Communications. Using technology gained from the acquisition they created the UIQ platform which launched in 2002 and as the company changed its name to UIQ Technology. In 2002 Sony Ericsson and Motorola (both members of Symbian Ltd.) came close to a joint venture, but this was abandoned when Motorola chose to use a Linux-based platform in 2003. As a result, Sony Ericsson was the main licensee for UIQ. On 7 November 2006, Sony Ericsson announced they had agreed (in principle) to buy UIQ Technology from Symbian Ltd. and run it as a separate subsidiary. The UIQ products would be "openly available, licensed on equal terms to all its licensees". The acquisition was completed in February 2007. Interestingly this meant Sony Ericsson got back this division that was originally created by them in 1998 (as Ericsson, before the joint venture with Sony). On 15 October 2007, Sony Ericsson and Motorola announced an agreement for Motorola to purchase a 50% interest in UI Holdings BV, the legal parent company of UIQ Technology. The two companies worked and invested jointly in the development of UIQ.

End of UIQ

With the establishment in 2008 of the Symbian Foundation led by Nokia (and which both Sony Ericsson and Motorola joined), UIQ's future was in doubt. S60 was the UI choice of Symbian Foundation; UIQ would contribute its assets to the foundation. Patrick Olsson of Sony Ericsson announced on 21 October 2008 at the Smartphone Show 2008 in London that UIQ didn't make the cut, it didn't attract the operator, manufacturer or consumer interest needed to stop it from failing. Sony Ericsson funded the company for a few months to help management to restructure or find a buyer. On 5 January 2009, UIQ Technology filed for bankruptcy and ceased to exist.

Timeline

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009